>> Monday, October 18, 2010

Oh, the saga with Ashley and the big, bad marathon continues. A 20-miler turned 18.5. Which really isn't too shabby, but I'm now left wondering if I may have a problem on my hands. Or, rather, on my left knee. But before we get into all of that, here's a brief rundown of the weekend's events:

Friday night was rainy and awful. So, we stayed in and watched all our favorite TV shows on Hulu. Stephen was nice enough to brave the elements and get us food from Wegmans. I had my classic Friday night favorite: a simple tomato-basil-mozzarella sandwich. Stephen munched on sushi and soup. And some of my bread. Grey's Anatomy is great this season, don't you think?

We woke up on Saturday morning at 9AM. For us, that's insanely late. We have no idea how it happened, but all that sleep felt great. However, I'm not a fan of feeling like I'm behind all day. Ugh. Soon after, we began the day with a brisk run through our neighborhood (I did 5.2 miles, Stephen did about 7.5).

I didn't at all feel like running, but the wind was pretty awesome (I love running in crazy wind), so I didn't want to let the opportunity to be blown away breeze by.

Then, we spent way too much money at Wegmans Saturday afternoon. We bought yummy cheeses (including an incredible applewood smoked cheddar covered in paprika!) and all kinds of other ingredients to make a feast. We'll get to the specific foods of that feast in another post.

But here's a preview:

I spent the rest of Saturday night -- after my cooking and baking fest -- dreading my 20-miler on Sunday morning. I just didn't want to do it. I wanted to sleep in again, I guess!

But Sunday morning arrived. I got out the door for my run around 9AM, which is the latest I've started a long run in a while. My objective was to go SLOW. To feel like I was totally, completely, 100% comfortable. Holding back, even. I took my watch, but resisted looking at it. We'll get back to my time. But miles 1 through 6 went great. I was a bit bored, but that's to be expected. It was my 4th 20 mile run this season! Just after mile 6, I felt this abrupt, SHARP pain on the outside of my left knee. It made me yell out "OWWW" . . . though it lasted only a second. Like I was jabbed with a knife.

Then went away.
20 seconds later. It happened again.
Went away.
Another 20 or so seconds later, again.

At that point, I started to get really freaked out. I mean, c'mon! Really?! Only one week ago, I had rocked a half marathon race. This weekend, I was nearly crying at a 9+ minute pace?

I haven't had problems like these in a while. My training motto has been "everything in moderation" and "gradual, gradual, gradual" . . . how could I be developing some sort of IT band issue, when that's usually from over-use? ANYWAY, I told myself if I felt the pain once more, I'd turn back (I was near this turn where I could get home in like 3 miles). The pain stopped. So, I continued on.

I stopped (as per usual) at mile 8ish at Wegmans for water. And I also needed to pee (which never happens on my runs either -- weird day!). When I walked inside, I quickly realized they had closed the entire hallway leading to the public restrooms for cleaning! I couldn't even walk past the barrier/rope to get a quick drink of H2O.

UGGGGHHHH. I needed water. Badly!

Thankfully, I remember that there are water coolers for staff in the front of the store. I decided I could live without a bathroom break . . . but I had to steal a bit of water. I got a dirty look from a cashier, but didn't care one bit. I still had 12 miles to go!

Once I was back outside, I headed for another leg of my adventure. Just an out-and-back, around 5 miles total . . . and I could then return to Wegmans to see if the bathrooms had opened up. That part of my run was relatively uneventful. But I kept thinking about how much I wasn't enjoying myself. I was bored. My heart wasn't in it. Thankfully, I had no pain. Cruising along. A hill, but I killed it.

After my second pit-stop at the big W, I headed for what I thought would be the last 7 miles of my run. I was OK for about three of those miles. Then my knee started to hurt again. Not as acutely as it had before, just a soreness. Tightness. Weirdness that made me decided to end at 18.5 miles instead of 20. With a brief walk break of about 2 minutes in there, too.

I got home, completely discouraged, cursing and telling Stephen that I'll NEVER run another marathon. I'm not built for it. That I HATE distance running. That I HATE training. I drank some water, showered, and calmed down. My knee was tender. It was hard to go down the stairs. And my knee is still somewhat sore and not its usual, healthy self. I'm trying not to completely scare myself by saying I have ITBS. But it is the IT band area that hurts. I have been massaging the area and many have suggested I invest in a foam roller. I'm on a mission to find one this evening.

I'm planning to monitor the pain for a week. I get weird injuries all the time that I think are a huge big deal and end up resolving themselves in a matter of a few days. Though, some of my friends have told me that this pain isn't anything I should treat on my own. We'll see. At this point, I'm just trying to keep my cool. I want to run Philly . . . badly. But this new development has made me think. Marathon training certainly doesn't seem like it's my thing. Very frustrated right now.

Regardless: 18.5 miles in 2:48:30. 9:06 pace. It felt slow to me. So, if I can ever run again, I'm on track to finish in under 4:00:00.

On a happy note. My friend Elizabeth (from Elizathon) has graciously offered to run the last 6 miles of Philly with me, provided I'm able to do the race. She's a sweetheart. Elizabeth: YOU ARE AWESOME! I can't even begin to explain how her offer has brightened my day. So, we'll hope for health. I have one more 20-miler before the big race. But at this point, I'm just hoping to be able to run tomorrow, relatively pain-free. I may just take the day off for rest, too.

Positive thoughts are appreciated. You guys and gals have been so great through my rough training patch.

I had a great post-run smoothie. Some of those hundreds of dollars we spent at Wegmans went toward soy protein powder. We don't normally do too many supplements. But we're glad we tried this stuff.

Sunday we were also planning to see Phoenix at Cornell. But between my mood and Stephen's mounds of schoolwork, we just couldn't swing it. My friend Mark (the only guy in the photo below -- from music camp -- because we're cool like that) came down and treated us to dinner instead. It was so great catching up with him!

So, that's what we did this weekend. Feels like it went by fast! And to those of you who were interested in the change post, I did indeed dye my hair this morning. But it wasn't terribly shocking. Just refreshing the color I already had. While I'm out tonight looking for a foam roller, I may just have to sneak in a haircut. We'll see!

What did YOU do this weekend? Any great workouts or race times to report? Concerts or other events attended? Projects completed? We'd love to hear about 'em. As well, if you have experience with IT-band issues, I'd love to know how you've managed them. Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com.